Utilization of the approximate location of a device determined from ambient signals

ABSTRACT

The present invention employs approximate device locations determined from changes in the sensed strength of radio signals at different locations. In one instance of the invention, the approximate device locations are based on inference procedures that are used to process ambient commercial radio signals, to estimate a location or a probability distribution over the locations of a device. In another instance of the invention, approximate device locations derived from learning and inference methods that are applied to rank vector of signal strength vectors are utilized. Moving to such rank orderings leads to methods that bypass consideration of absolute signal strengths in location calculations. The invention utilizes approximations for a device location that is based on a method that does not require a substantial number of available ambient signal strengths while still providing useful location inferences in determining locations. Several location-centric services are supported, including receipt of location-specific information such as traffic reports, emergency information, transmission about device location, and time-sensitive promotions such as discounts offered by businesses for load balancing the provision of services.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/489,274, which was filed Jul. 22, 2003, entitledSYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR APPROXIMATING A LOCATION OF A DEVICE.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to utilizing determinedlocations, and more particularly to utilizing an approximate location ofa device determined from ambient signal strengths.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Computers were developed to aid people with repetitive tasks that weredeemed to be extremely time consuming. Most of the early computers wereused for complex mathematical problem solving. The first computingmachines were extremely large compared to computers utilized today.Despite their enormous size, the early machines had vastly lesscomputing power than today's machines. Generally speaking, the sizes ofcomputing devices were driven by the sizes of the existing electroniccomponents of that era. This meant that only large research facilitiesor big businesses could employ computing machines. As new technologyallowed for smaller electronic devices to be developed, computingdevices also diminished in size. Although still lacking in power bytoday's standards, the size of the computing machine was reduced enoughthat it could be placed on a typical desk. Thus, the “desktop computer”was born. This allowed users to have computing technology available inlocations other than a central computing building. People found thathaving the capability to utilize computing technology at their workdesk, rather than submitting computing problems to a central location,made them much more productive at their jobs. Eventually, the idea ofmoving the desktop computer to the home environment to provide even moreconvenience for doing work became a reality.

When the computer was brought into the home, it became obvious thatthere were other uses for it besides work. This allowed people to viewthe computer as not only a work tool, but also as a helpful device thatcould be used to play games, aid in learning, handle telecommunicationsfor the home, and even control home appliances and lighting, forexample. Generally speaking, however, a user was restricted to computinginformation available only on that computer. A game could be installedon the desktop computer and played on that computer, but one could notplay others who had computers at other locations. Technology came to therescue with a first attempt at connecting these computers utilizingtelephonic modem technology. This permitted individual users to connectvia direct dial-up telephone connections. This was great for localtelephone calls, but enormously expensive for long distance calls.However, with the advent of the Internet, all that has changed. Itprovides an inexpensive means to connect computers from all over theworld. This allows users to quickly and easily transmit and receiveinformation on a global scale. Businesses fully embraced this newtechnology, creating “e-commerce.” Now users can send and receiveinformation and even buy products and services online. This means ofaccessing a wealth of information and easily processing transactionsonline has become a staple for our society.

It stands to reason that once people enjoy the benefits of a tool likethe Internet that they would want to be able to utilize the toolwherever they go. The development of laptop computers has helped toallow a more mobile access point to the Internet. However, laptops stillrequire some type of connection, whether by wire or wireless, to a meansof connecting to the Internet. This greatly limits their flexibility fora typical user who is always “on the go.” Technology has continued torespond by developing computers that require a device to be placed onthe body along with large batteries and glasses that provide a viewingscreen. Although much more portable, the bulkiness of these deviceslimit their usefulness, and the reduction in device size (over a typicaldesktop computer) generally limits its computing power. Additionally,because of its intricacies, it is a device that a user must choose towear, knowing its limitations and restrictions and being careful not todamage the delicate equipment.

As society embraces new technology, it begins to demand more from it.Initial users of computing devices were thankful for the ability toalleviate repetitive tasks from their workload. They were more thanhappy to walk to a building housing the computing machine, so they wouldnot have to do the repetitive tasks. Since society has grown accustomedto having computers readily available at work and home, it now demandsthat computing information be available everywhere. In some places,kiosks have sprung up at airports and shopping malls, so that people caneasily access information. Even this has not been enough for some userswho attempt to obtain the smallest and lightest computing devices thatallow them access anywhere they can carry them. Such things as personaldigital assistants (PDA's) and ultra miniature laptops often attempt toprovide users with information while they are mobile.

Despite the diminutive size of computing devices available today, theiroperational concept remains generally the same as for the first inventedcomputing device. A user “comes to” the device and asks it a question.The device then attempts to provide the user with the information.Progress has been made in “push technology” where a user pre-programs adevice to retrieve desired information. However, this is time consumingand typically the programming is done assuming a user is stationary.Although a user wants the time and temperature of the city where theylive when they are at home, when they travel to another city, thatinformation becomes irrelevant to the user at that time. In an attemptto overcome this problem, technology has begun to focus on solving theproblem of finding the location of a user. The most obvious choice wasto utilize Global Positioning Systems or GPS. This is a militarysatellite location system designed to aid the military in troopmovements and equipment locations. The government provided to the publica less resolute version of tracking from their satellites. Although notas accurate as the military version, it is very accurate compared toconventional means. The first civilian devices that utilized satellitetracking were bulky and hard to use. Eventually, GPS units shrunktremendously in size and could be easily transported. Units were evendeveloped that plugged directly into mobile computers, such as thelaptop. This combination allowed users to track their progress such ason street maps displayed on their laptops while they were driving.Unfortunately, lugging a laptop, hooking up all the connections to theGPS antennae, and finding power for all the equipment, made utilizingthis technology burdensome. Additionally, by the nature of itstechnology, GPS only works when it can directly access a minimum numberof satellites, limiting its use in congested areas such as in largercities with skyscrapers and especially when a person is indoors.

Users are gradually demanding that they have pertinent informationavailable to them at all times without requiring a burdensome device.For example, a frequent traveler would like to have weather information,airport information, or car rental information available to them nomatter where they are located. Gas stations, restaurants, and otherbusinesses would like to reach those travelers and let them know wherethey are located at the right moment. This passing of information allowsa user to gain more beneficial use of their time and resources despite alack of prior knowledge of an area. A business person could also benefitby being able to quickly ascertain area resources for a new client.Providing information on an as-needed basis is the most cost-effectivemeans of increasing business.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order toprovide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. Thissummary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is notintended to identify key/critical elements of the invention or todelineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to presentsome concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to themore detailed description that is presented later.

The present invention relates generally to utilizing determinedlocations, and more particularly to utilizing an approximate location ofa device determined from multiple ambient signal strengths from emittingentities, such as, for example, base stations, towers, mobile platforms,building antennae, and the like. A monotonically increasing naturebetween actual signal strengths and signal strength indicators providedby technology, such as, for example, Microsoft's Smart Personal ObjectTechnology (SPOT), is leveraged to determine a device location utilizedby the present invention. In one aspect of the present invention, alocation determined, in part, by employing a rank vector to insulateresults from a monotonically increasing function of measured signalstrength vectors is utilized. This desensitizes the present inventionfrom relying on location determinations that require absolute signalstrengths. Several location-centric services are supported by thepresent invention, including receipt of location-specific informationsuch as traffic reports, emergency information, transmission aboutdevice location, and time-sensitive promotions such as discounts offeredby businesses for load balancing the provision of services.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certainillustrative aspects of the invention are described herein in connectionwith the following description and the annexed drawings. These aspectsare indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which theprinciples of the invention may be employed and the present invention isintended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. Otheradvantages and novel features of the invention may become apparent fromthe following detailed description of the invention when considered inconjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information system in accordance with anaspect of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a location system in accordance with anaspect of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of a device employing a location system inaccordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a graph illustrating accuracy of signal strengths inaccordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating monotonicity of signal strengths inaccordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a three-dimensional graph illustrating hash code permutationsin accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of a map utilized in accordance with an aspectof the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a graph illustrating radio signal strength indicator values inaccordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an example of classification accuracies in accordance with anaspect of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a histogram of Spearman's correlations between measuredsignal strength and simulated signal strength in accordance with anaspect of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a table of simulated signal strengths for radio stations inthe Seattle area in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a histogram of Spearman's correlations between measuredsignal strength and simulated signal strength of seven chosen stationsin accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a map illustrating a test area in accordance with an aspectof the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a graph illustrating a relation between cell width and medianerror in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is graphs illustrating probability density function andcumulative density function errors for a given cell width in accordancewith an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a graph illustrating a relation between correlating thresholdand median error in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a graph illustrating a relation between window size andmedian error in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a flow diagram of a method of locating a device in accordancewith an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is another flow diagram of a method of locating a device inaccordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a flow diagram of a method of training a locating device inaccordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a flow diagram of a method of smoothing histograms utilizedfor locating a device in accordance with an aspect of the presentinvention.

FIG. 22 is a flow diagram of a method of smoothing location inferencesin accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a flow diagram of a method of optimizing ambient signal setsfor utilization in locating a device in accordance with an aspect of thepresent invention.

FIG. 24 illustrates an example operating environment in which thepresent invention can function.

FIG. 25 illustrates another example operating environment in which thepresent invention can function.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is now described with reference to the drawings,wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elementsthroughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation,numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present invention. It may be evident, however, thatthe present invention may be practiced without these specific details.In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in blockdiagram form in order to facilitate describing the present invention.

As used in this application, the term “component” is intended to referto a computer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardwareand software, software, or software in execution. For example, acomponent may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on aprocessor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution,a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both anapplication running on a server and the server can be a computercomponent. One or more components may reside within a process and/orthread of execution and a component may be localized on one computerand/or distributed between two or more computers. A “thread” is theentity within a process that the operating system kernel schedules forexecution. As is well known in the art, each thread has an associated“context” which is the volatile data associated with the execution ofthe thread. A thread's context includes the contents of system registersand the virtual address belonging to the thread's process. Thus, theactual data comprising a thread's context varies as it executes.

As used herein, the term “inference” refers generally to the process ofreasoning about or inferring states of the system, environment, and/oruser from a set of observations as captured via events and/or data.Inference can be employed to identify a specific context or action, orcan generate a probability distribution over states, for example. Theinference can be probabilistic—that is, the computation of a probabilitydistribution over states of interest based on a consideration of dataand events. Inference can also refer to techniques employed forcomposing higher-level events from a set of events and/or data. Suchinference results in the construction of new events or actions from aset of observed events and/or stored event data, whether or not theevents are correlated in close temporal proximity, and whether theevents and data come from one or several event and data sources.

The present invention discloses an approach to identifying coarselocation information, indoors and/or outdoors, via an analysis ofambient signals from multiple signal emitters such as, for example,commercial radio stations and the like. In one instance of the presentinvention, it operates with extremely small amounts of power, making ita feasible source of location information for small, low-power devicesthat provide a form of signal strength indication such as, for example,Microsoft's SPOT. SPOT centers on the development of a wristwatch-sizeddevice with an ability to receive notifications via digital data encodedwithin regular FM radio broadcasts. A device and/or method employing thepresent invention enables building location-specific notificationservices utilizing, in one instance, the preexisting ability of SPOTdevices to receive FM and to measure signal strengths. In one instance,the present invention utilizes an algorithm entitled the “RightSPOT”algorithm. The present invention is also insensitive to variationscaused by manufacturing differences in the construction of devicesemploying the present invention.

Location awareness in portable devices allows for new mechanisms forsales and marketing. For example, users may wish to subscribe toservices that provide discounts and promotions that are relevant for thelocation they are in or near. Retailers, such as restauranteurs, maywish to employ such location-sensitive alerts about time-limited offersto do load-balancing, so as to fill an empty restaurant given a slowevening. Location-sensitive filtering can limit promotions only toclients who are close enough to a place of business to provide suchresponsive load balancing while limiting the numbers of alerts by onlyrelaying those that might be relevant during a short time frame.

In FIG. 1, a block diagram of an information system 100 in accordancewith an aspect of the present invention is shown. The information system100 is comprised of an information system component 102 having aninformation component 104, a locating system 106, and a signal component108. A signal 110 is received by the signal component 108 and processedinto a signal strength indicator. This processing generally requires ananalog to digital process. The signal component 108 can be capable ofprocessing various signals, such as ambient radio waves and the like,including but not limited to, frequency modulated (FM) signals. Once asignal has been converted into a signal indicator, it is passed to thelocating system 106. The locating system 106 processes the signalindicators and provides a location to the information component 104. Theinformation component 104 utilizes the location to derive a set ofrelevant data. The relevancy of the data can be strictly based onlocation and/or a combination of location and user preferences (via auser input, not shown). The data can also be related to information fromdownloadable lookup tables that facilitate the process. Once the data isselected, it is provided to a user as “desired relative information” 112via a user interface, such as a graphical user interface (GUI) and/or atext-based user interface and the like.

In another instance of the present invention, the locating system 106stores the location. This allows location data to be utilized at a laterpoint in time such as, for example, for desensitizing location due todevice orientation (e.g., averaging the last “X” number of locationinferences). Tracking systems (e.g., vehicle, package, personnel,equipment tracking and the like) can also employ this type of historicallocation data. Thus, the present invention can be utilized, for example,to facilitate police such as in determining where a stolen object suchas a car has been, or to help a package delivery service determine how aparticular package was transported after a delay in delivery was found.Parents could also employ an instance of the present invention to learnwhere their children have been for a previous period of time. Likewise,employers can track employees and equipment to enhance performance. Thepresent invention can also be utilized to track animals such as pets andthe like. Computers can also report their locations automaticallyutilizing the present invention. This allows a computer to configureitself automatically based upon its location for such things as timezones, countries, and languages and the like.

In yet another instance of the present invention, a means is provided tomanage limited resources based upon location. The limited resources caninclude, but are not limited to, memory, power, and processingcapability and the like. For example, if data storage capability islimited, location can be used to discard stored data such as a map of anarea that is not in the proximity of the current location of the device.This allows storage space for additional information about the presentlocation that could not otherwise be stored. In still yet anotherinstance of the present invention, the location information can beutilized to facilitate other entities such as hardware devices andsoftware programs and the like. These can include, but are not limitedto, navigation systems, mapping software, tracking software, andlocating software and the like. Likewise, an instance of the presentinvention can be utilized in emergency-based devices for providingassistance in crisis situations such as medical emergencies, fires,floods, and infrastructure repair. Information such as water sources forfire control, building construction layouts, medical service locations,underground utilities, and weather reports and the like can be provided.The present invention can also be utilized to disseminate, based onlocation, time-sensitive information, advertising, weather reports,proximity information of an entity and the like. Proximity informationof an entity can include, but is not limited to, buddy list typeservices for being notified when a friend or buddy is close to adevice's location. Similarly, a device could also be notified when othervehicles are in the area. This information can be utilized both as apositive effect to cluster objects and/or as a negative effect to warnof objects to allow distancing or disassociation to occur.

In still yet another instance of the present invention, a means isprovided to group items based on an event location rather than timing ofan event. For example, if a person took photographs while on a vacationthat took them to the Grand Canyon then to Las Vegas and then back tothe Grand Canyon, they could have their photographs automatically sortedvia location (e.g., all Grand Canyon shots together) rather than via theactual sequence in which they were taken. Since the present inventioncan also be utilized indoors, it can group items from indoor events aswell as outdoor events. For such applications, it is often unnecessaryto have detailed latitude and longitudinal coordinates, but to simplyknow which city or portion of a city that pictures were taken in. Suchapplications may even keep the coarse location implicit, and use theseproperties for clustering and/or grouping items into distinct sets forviewing and/or sorting.

Referring to FIG. 2, a block diagram of a location system 200 inaccordance with an aspect of the present invention is illustrated. Thelocation system 200 is comprised of a locating component 202. Thelocating component 202 receives training data 204 utilized to train thelocating component 202. The training data 204 can be comprised of hashcode permutations and the like for various locality specific signals andthe like. This data 204 can be calculated from information obtained viaphysically traveling to a location to obtain signal characteristicsand/or via simulation software that provides the desired signalcharacteristics. In other instances of the present invention, trainingdata is not utilized. A signal strength indicator input 206 allows thelocating component 202 to determine its location based on signalstrength indicators. The indicators are not required to be absolute interms of actual signal strength. The locating component 202 processesthe signal strength input 206 in a desensitized means with regard toabsolute value to provide a location 208. The locating component 202 isgenerally comprised of an analysis component (not shown) that computes arank vector which provides a means to rank signal strength indicatorswithout regard to absolute values.

Turning to FIG. 3, an illustration of a SPOT device 300 is shown. TheSPOT device 300 includes a wearable device 302, a weather forecastdisplay 304, a traffic display 306, a restaurant display 308, and anentertainment display 310. One of the promises of ubiquitous computingis to connect users to important information as they move around in theworld. One instance of the present invention leverages the small,low-power device platform of SPOT devices. SPOT provides users a meansto receive critical notifications on a wristwatch-sized device asdepicted in FIG. 3. The SPOT device is designed to listen for digitallyencoded data such as news stories, weather forecasts, personal messages,traffic updates, and retail directories and the like transmitted onstandard FM radio carrier frequencies, on bandwidth that is speciallyleased from the host radio stations. The device has the potential forconnecting millions of people to valuable notifications and alerts.

Beyond the small-size form factor, a feature of the SPOT device is longbattery life of the kind associated with digital watches, maximizing thetime between charges. Thus, the SPOT device is constructed to minimizesize and power consumption. The present invention is utilized, in oneinstance, to provide an extremely low-power method for identifying thelocation of devices such as, for example, SPOT devices. Since a SPOTdevice, utilizing the present invention, can determine locationinformation, it supports new kinds of experiences, such as allowing thedevice to listen only for alerts that are relevant to particularlocations. Previous basic methods for localizing data for transmissionto particular devices relied on the limited range of FM radio signals.Thus, only devices within range of a particular radio tower receiveddata relevant to that tower's coverage area. However, for certainmessages, this location resolution is too coarse. Traffic updates,limited time discount offers, and lists of nearby attractions need finerlocation filtering than that provided by FM radio station coverageareas. Although GPS is a candidate for providing more precise locationinformation, a GPS receiver would consume precious battery power and addvolume and expense to an already densely packed device. Additionally;GPS is limited to outside usage where a direct link to satellites can beestablished.

In one instance of the present invention, a means is provided forlocalizing a device based on an analysis of ambient signal strengthsfrom existing signal frequency emitters such as, for example, FM radiostations. Systems and methods of the present invention which employalgorithms such as “RightSPOT,” can build on the SPOT technology thathas already been developed for receiving notifications, includinghardware and software for measuring signal strength on arbitraryfrequencies in the FM band.

The present invention, in one instance, utilizes a vector of radiosignal strengths taken from different frequencies to identify location.Each time a location is to be inferred, the device scans through a setof FM frequencies and records the signal strength of each one. Astandard SPOT device scans through multiple FM radio stations andmeasures signal strength in order to find a sufficiently powerful onetransmitting SPOT data. In one instance of the present invention, aReceived Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) of SPOT is provided by ananalogue-to-digital converter (ADC) in the device to the presentinvention. Raw digital measurements for each frequency are scaled andthen averaged, for example, over 20 readings for 13 milliseconds. TheADC and associated circuitry are generally not calibrated to measureRSSI in any certain units or to be consistent from device to device. Oneskilled in the art can appreciate that although the above exampleutilizes SPOT technology, such as RSSI, other means for obtaining asignal strength indicator are compatible with the present invention. Thepresent invention can utilize any signal strength indicator, whetherwith units or without units, that provides relative signal strengths.

In FIG. 4, a graph 400 illustrating signal strengths in accordance withan aspect of the present invention is shown. The vertical axisrepresents an input signal strength, and the horizontal axis is themeasured signal strength (RSSI) from a device such as, for example, aSPOT device that provides RSSI. The curve 402 represents a fittedmathematical function to the measured data points represented by smalltriangles 404. The expected inconsistency among devices for measures ofRSSI provides an obstacle as such variations make difficult attempts togeneralize for reuse a single mapping between signal strengths andlocations. One possible solution to this problem is to speciallycalibrate each device a priori using a source of known FM transmissionstrengths. The result of one of these tests is shown in FIG. 4, showinghow the RSSI readings of a particular device vary with a knowntransmitted signal strength. The data for this test was taken in aFaraday cage, but the procedure was deemed too costly for massproduction. Another solution is to train each device at differentlocations, gathering signal strength vectors in known places to be usedin the same device later. Regular consumers would likely not toleratesuch a training regimen.

In addition to manufacturing variations, signal strengths are alsoaffected by the device's orientation, its surroundings, and theadjustment of an attaching means, such as a wrist band and the like,which can also serve as a signal receiving antenna. It would be nearlyimpossible to anticipate all these variable factors affecting absolutesignal strength. If absolute signal strengths can be anticipated, aprobabilistic framework like that of Roos, T., P. Myllymaki, and H.Tirri, in A Statistical Modeling Approach to Location Estimation; IEEETransactions on Mobile Computing, 2002; 1(1): p. 59-69 would beappropriate. However, given the impracticality of discovering eachdevice's response characteristics, an alternative method of comparingsignal strengths is needed.

Rather than depend on absolute signal strength as an indicator ofposition, the present invention employs transformations of signalstrengths that provide more robust inferences. In general tests, devicesemploying the present invention, such as, for example, the RightSPOTalgorithm, gave results of a ranking of a set of radio stations by theirmeasured RSSI as described infra. Ultimately, the devices could not bedepended upon to give consistent absolute signal strengths. Due to thisfact, an alternate assumption is utilized based on the fact thatrelative signal strengths are relatively consistent (i.e., an orderedlist of radio stations sorted by signal strength does not vary greatlyfor a given location). More precisely, it is assumed that a relationshipbetween input signal strength and measured RSSI is monotonicallyincreasing. In FIG. 5, a graph 500 illustrating monotonicity of signalstrengths in accordance with an aspect of the present invention isshown. The graph 500 shows that if a mobile device's measured RSSI is amonotonically increasing function of input signal strength, a signalstrength order of inputs is also preserved. For instance, if A<B<C,these values transformed through differing RSSI-measuring functions aremaintained in a substantially similar signal strength order. This allowsthe present invention to operate with a wide variety of devices in spiteof device-to-device variations in how they measure signal strengths.

The present invention, in one instance, employs an algorithm that infersa location of a device by scanning a list of n radio frequencies (suchas FM radio frequencies and the like), f=(f₁, f₂, . . . , f_(n))resulting in a corresponding vector of measured signal strengths, s=(s₁,s₂, . . . , s_(n)). A sort routine is then utilized to compute a rankvector of the signal strengths, v=(r₁, r₂, . . . , r_(n)) in ascendingorder, where each r_(i) gives the rank of the corresponding s_(i) in s.For example, if a signal strength vector is s=(12, 40, 38, 10), acorresponding rank vector is v=(2, 4, 3, 1). It should be noted that therank vector is insensitive to any monotonically increasing function ofthe elements of s, which makes the algorithm robust to variations in howdifferent devices measure signal strength. Thus, the present inventiondoes not require absolute signal strength to determine location of adevice.

As a further example, the radio frequencies can represent differentradio stations which can be identified by an index [1 . . . n].Measuring RSSI of each station results in a set of ordered pairs givinga station index and signal strength of each radio station: {(1, s₁), (2,s₂), (n, s_(n))}. This set of radio station strength tuples is thensorted by signal strength to get a rank vector. For example, suppose n=3and scan results are {(1, 40), (2, 30), (3, 35)}. Sorting this set ofordered pairs on signal strength gives {(2, 30), (3, 3), (1, 40)}. Arank vector is then the radio station indices taken in signal strengthorder, i.e., v=(2, 3, 1), indicating that s₂<s₃<s₁. Equal signalstrengths can be resolved, for example, by arbitrarily sorting, firstdetected sorting, most frequently detected sorting, and the like.

For n radio stations, there are n! possible rank vectors, which arepermutations of integers 1, 2, . . . , n. Each rank vector can be mappedto an integer r ε {0, 1, . . . , n!−1} using a mixed-radixrepresentation of the integers as described by Knuth, D.; SeminumericalAlgorithms; in The Art of Computer Programming; 1981; Addison-Wesley:Reading, Massachusetts; p. 64 (Algorithm P). Thus, a unique hash code isgenerated for each permutation of signal strengths.

The present invention's classification scheme is motivated by anassumption that different locations will show different relative signalstrengths. Ideally, each location would map to a single, unique value ofr. In reality, due to noise, derived from such factors as a local tiltand position of a receiving unit, such as, for example, a SPOT antenna,changes in relative paths to ambient signal emitters based on differentconfigurations and geometries associated with buildings and geographicalterrain, each location produces a distribution of different r's.

It is to be appreciated that classification in accordance with variousaspects of the present invention can employ a probabilistic and/orstatistical-based analysis (e.g., factoring into the analysis utilitiesand costs) to prognose or infer an action that a user desires to beautomatically performed. A classifier can be a function that maps aninput attribute vector, x=(x₁, x₂, x₃, . . . , Xn), to a confidence thatthe input belongs to a class-that is, f(x)=confidence(class). Forexample, a support vector machine (SVM) classifier can be employed—anSVM generally operates by finding a dynamically changing hypersurface inthe space of possible inputs. Other directed and undirected modelsclassification approaches include, e.g., naïve Bayes, Bayesian networks,decision trees, and probabilistic classification models providingdifferent patterns of independence can be employed. Classification asused herein also is inclusive of statistical regression that is utilizedto develop models of priority.

Turning to FIG. 6, a three-dimensional graph 600 illustrating hash codepermutations in accordance with an aspect of the present invention isdepicted. The graph 600 is comprised of a normalized histogram axis 602,a location axis 604, and a derived permutation hash code axis 606. Inone instance of the present invention, for example, for training asystem, a receiving device, such as, for example, a SPOT device, isbrought to each of L locations, gathering hash codes r_(i) ^((l)), wherel=1, 2, . . . , L indexes over the locations and i=1, 2, . . . , N_(l)indexes over the hash codes observed at location l. For each location, anormalized histogram of the hash codes is constructed to approximate adiscrete probability distribution of hash codes seen at that point,p(r|l). An example of these normalized histograms for six locations andthree frequencies is shown in FIG. 6.

Given observation likelihoods p(r|l), and an observation R*, aprobability of being in any of the L locations is computed using Bayesrule: $\begin{matrix}{{p\left( l \middle| r^{*} \right)} = \frac{{p\left( r^{*} \middle| l \right)}{p(l)}}{\sum\limits_{l^{\prime} = 1}^{L}{{p\left( r^{*} \middle| l^{\prime} \right)}{p\left( l^{\prime} \right)}}}} & (1)\end{matrix}$Here p(l) is an a priori probability of being at location l. Since nospecific prior knowledge of the device's location exists, a uniformdistribution is assumed, setting p(l)=1/L. Rather than computelikelihoods, non-normalized posteriors are directly compared. Aclassifier, such as, for example, a Bayes classifier, identifies a classwith a maximum a posteriori probability, i.e.: $\begin{matrix}{l^{*} = {{\underset{l = {1\ldots\quad L}}{\arg\quad\max}\quad{p\left( l \middle| r^{*} \right)}}\quad = {\underset{l = {1\ldots\quad L}}{\arg\quad\max}\quad{p\left( r^{*} \middle| l \right)}}}} & (2)\end{matrix}$Algorithmically, this means that for an observation r*, a normalizedhistogram is consulted (e.g., FIG. 6), looking up values of p(r*|l) overa full range of locations lε {1, 2, . . . , L}, and taking a location lwith a largest value of p(r*|l).

As an example of employing one instance of the present invention, thefollowing test is described. Three SPOT watches were selected at randomfrom a laboratory's store of test devices. No effort was made to choosewatches that gave consistent signal strengths, and no effort was made tocalibrate the watches with respect to an absolute signal source or withrespect to each other. This simulates a typical production run of suchdevices, considering the economic infeasibility of performing testing tocalibrate the devices.

Referring to FIG. 7, an illustration of a map 700 utilized in accordancewith an aspect of the present invention is shown. The map 700 iscomprised of six locations 702-712 representing suburbs of Seattle. Eachdevice was programmed to measure signal strengths of 32 different localFM radio stations. The devices were then transported to six differentsuburbs in the Seattle area, logging all 32 signal strengths, taking onemeasure of each station per second. In each suburb, an average of about720 readings were taken (˜10 minutes) while moving around the suburb'sretail core. The retail core was selected as compelling applications forone instance of the present invention involve, for example, retailbusinesses sending out time-sensitive offers and listing of localattractions.

In FIG. 8, a graph 800 illustrating radio signal strength indicatorvalues in accordance with an aspect of the present invention isdepicted. The graph 800 is comprised of raw RSSI data 802 and medianfiltered data 804. Raw RSSI data from the devices was found to be noisy,as shown in FIG. 8, so a windowed median filter was applied to the data,replacing each RSSI with a median of itself and a preceding 29unfiltered values. One skilled in the art can appreciate that otherfiltering means can be implemented in place of the windowed medianfilter.

Testing was done by alternately picking data from one of the threedevices as the basis for normalized histograms and testing with datafrom the other two. This was a more realistic test than merely testingeach device against itself, because ultimately the devices, in oneinstance of the present invention, depend on one pre-programmed set ofhistograms for determining their location.

Turning to FIG. 9, an example 900 of classification accuracies inaccordance with an aspect of the present invention is illustrated. Theexample 900 is comprised of an ambient signal emitter quantity 902, asubset of ambient signal emitters 904, and a classification accuracyresult 906. This shows how often the device was correctly classifiedinto one of the six suburbs used for testing. In an effort to minimizethe storage and computational burden of location determination,experimentation was accomplished, such as, for example, using a muchreduced subset of the 32 recorded radio stations. For each test of nradio stations, a set of $\quad\begin{pmatrix}32 \\n\end{pmatrix}$different combinations of stations to use for classifying location wereexamined. The results, in terms of classification accuracy, are shown inFIG. 9. Thus, the present invention can be utilized with fewer ambientsignal emitters and still be utilized to locate a device.

The reported accuracy is the fraction of correct inferences made overall tests where one device was held out for making histograms and theother two used for testing. For n≦5 all possible combinations can beexhaustively tested. For n>5 a random subset of 10,000 combinations wastested. This explains why the classify accuracy goes down when movingfrom n=5 to n=6 stations; it is likely that a best combination via thesimulation-based selection of a random subset for n=6 was not found. Thebest classification accuracy is 81.7% using n=8 radio stations. Itshould be noted that this level of location accuracy exploitation wasdone in an opportunistic manner utilizing ambient signal emitters (e.g.,radio transmitters and the like) and utilizing receivers that were notintended for providing location information.

This example demonstrates the feasibility of using existing ambientsignal emitters, such as, for example, FM radio signals, to localize adevice down to a suburb utilizing one instance of the present invention.By employing existing technology, such as, for example, SPOT devices,with the present invention, existing hardware can be leveraged tomeasure signal strengths, such as, for example, FM radio signalstrengths, so that the capability for localization, in one instance ofthe present invention, only requires the addition of a small amount ofsoftware to an existing configuration. Different devices measure signalstrengths differently, and signal strengths are also affected by manyother variables. The present invention employing, for example, aBayesian classification algorithm, does not utilize absolute signalstrengths, but instead utilizes a ranking of signal strengths tofacilitate in ensuring robustness across devices and other variables.

Obviously, to infer a location from a rank hash code, there needs to bea relationship between location and hash codes. One way to ascertainthis relationship, as described supra, is to physically visit locationson the ground and record signal strengths. However, for generalutilization, this is tedious and requires maintenance work if a radiostation changes its transmitter's power and/or location. Thus, thepresent invention can also be employed to anticipate signal strengthcharacteristics of different locations without actually visiting them toobtain signal characteristics or “training data.” Rather than make alarge number of physical measurements, RadioSoft's ComStudy software(see generally, Internet website http://www.radiosoft.com) and the likeis utilized to generate simulated FM radio signal strength maps. Such asimulation can also facilitate in determining a good subset of radiostations to listen to for best localization. Methodologies for optimalusage of radio strength maps, includes the harnessing of probabilisticmethods to learn how the reliability and potential biases of simulationsvaries from actual received data based on such features as topology,geometric relationships between topology and/or transmitters, and thepresence of buildings and other man-made structures. For example, we cantrain statistical classifiers for reliability and/or bias based on acollection of data about the differences in simulated radio strengthsand actual detected radio strengths and harness such classifiers todevelop confidences and/or corrections in radio map tables and radiostrength ordering functions.

Also, notions of persistence of location can be utilized to fill in gapsin confidence that may show up. For example, if a device is notconfident in a particular location, assume that device is closest to alocation last sensed with confidence if the time is not great enough toallow for distant travel.

The ComStudy software supports many radio propagation models that can beutilized to predict FM radio maps. The Longley-Rice model, (see, P. L.Rice, A. G. Longley, K. A. Norton, and Barsis, A. P.; Transmission LossPredictions for Tropospheric Communication Circuits; National Bureau ofStandards Technical Note 101, January, 1967) was chosen in this exampleof an instance of the present invention, for its known accuracy. It isgenerally the most accurate of the choices since it incorporatesreflection, refraction (bending of the rays as they rise through theatmosphere), and several types of diffraction (spilling of signal overhills). The model utilizes a terrain map to simulate the effect of hillsand valleys.

ComStudy parameterizes each radio station transmitter by its frequency,transmitting power, and location (latitude, longitude). For eachtransmitter, a field strength matrix is generated. The matrix is a gridof rectangular cells spread over a chosen area on the ground, with eachcell containing signal level information from a transmitter in question.The width of the cells was chosen to be 6 arc seconds (about 185 metersnorth-south and 124 meters east-west). This is equivalent to having 40points (cells) per square kilometer. ComStudy then applies a chosenpropagation model to calculate field strength in the center of eachcell. In this example, maps were generated for 28 local FM radiostations in the Seattle, Wash. area.

Before utilizing simulated signal strength maps for location inference,a determination was made as to the confidence level that the mapsaccurately predicted rank vectors. To accomplish this, a SPOT watch wasprogrammed to measure signal strengths of the same 28 FM radio stationsfor the generated maps. The SPOT watch was then transported around thearea, logging the signal strengths of all 28 stations, taking one28-station scan per second, resulting in about 3920 readings for eachstation. Latitude and longitude was also logged from a GPS receiver. Toassess accuracy of the simulation, a Spearman rank correlation (see,William H. Press, Saul A. Teukolsky, William T. Vetterling, and Brian P.Flannery; Numerical Recipes in C; 1992, Cambridge Press) was calculatedbetween the ranked radio stations from the measured signal strengths andfrom the simulated signal strengths, utilizing the GPS readings todetermine which simulated strengths to use from the maps. The Spearmanrank correlation was utilized instead of Kendall's because differencesbetween data values ranked further apart are given more weight withSpearman. Both correlations range over [−1 . . . 1], with “1” indicatingequivalent rankings and “−1” indicating opposite rankings.

In FIG. 10, a histogram 1000 of Spearman's correlations between measuredsignal strength and simulated signal strength in accordance with anaspect of the present invention is depicted. The histogram 1000 showsthat more than 95% of the measured rankings were correlated with thesimulated rankings with a factor of at least 0.6 on a scale of [−1 . . .1]. This indicates that the simulated results are sufficiently accuratefor determining a location of a SPOT watch. Even better correlation isobtainable if the number of stations is reduced as discussed in moredetail infra.

With 28 available radio stations, 28!≈3.05×10²⁹ different rank vectorsare provided, which demands a huge computational and storage overhead.However, many of those stations are broadcast from the same tower withsome having similar transmission power. Measuring signal strengths fromco-located, similarly powered stations is redundant. To eliminate theseredundancies, the 28 stations are divided into groups of approximatelysimilar stations. The following criteria are then utilized to assesssimilarity:

-   -   1. Calculate Pearson's correlation coefficient (see, id) between        all pairs of stations based on spatially corresponding points on        simulated signal strength maps. (Note: Pearson's correlation        coefficient is a standard linear correlation coefficient, not a        rank correlation.)    -   2. Find groups of stations that are correlated with each other        greater than a certain threshold ρ. For this example of an        instance of the present invention, ρ=0.95 is utilized.    -   3. From each correlated group, select a station with a highest        average signal strength to represent a group.

Applying the above criteria to the simulated signal strength of theSeattle area (the criteria was also applied to actual measurements froma SPOT watch and resulted in approximately the same results withτ=0.9.), it was found that there are seven groups of correlated stationswith Pearson's correlation factor of at least 0.95. In FIG. 11, a table1100 of simulated signal strengths for radio stations in the Seattlearea in accordance with an aspect of the present invention is depicted.The table 1100 shows seven groups of stations along with frequencies,means, and variances of correlated stations inside each group. Selectedstations from each group are shown with bold-faced type.

Applying the above criteria, the number of stations is reduced from 28to 7. This means instead of having 28! different ranking vectors, thereare just 7!=5040 ranking vectors, a reduction of 25 orders of magnitude.This has a significantly positive effect on computational and memoryperformance for techniques utilized for location determination. This isparticularly important for resource-limited devices. In FIG. 12, ahistogram 1200 of Spearman's correlations between measured signalstrength and simulated signal strength of seven chosen stations inaccordance with an aspect of the present invention is illustrated. Thehistogram 1200 shows a significant improvement over the similarhistogram 1000 with 28 stations (FIG. 10), with an even highercorrelation between measured and simulated signal strengths. More than95% of the measured signal strength rank vectors are correlated with thesimulated signal strength with a factor of 0.8 or above. This furtheremphasizes that the simulated results are valid to employ fordetermining a location of a SPOT watch and similar devices and the like.

Each cell of the simulated signal strength maps is converted to a rankhash code, which is ultimately utilized for inferring location frommeasured rank hash codes. The simulated signal strength maps aregenerated on a grid with cells about 124 meters wide (east-west) and 185meters high (north-south). This is near the limit of the ComStudy'smaximum simulation resolution, and it is much finer than required forthis example of the present invention. Furthermore, this fine resolutionprovides 442,806 cells (811 east-west by 546 north-south) to represent atest area around Seattle. The rank hash code ranges over [0 . . . 7!−1],meaning that each fine cell needs a 13-bit integer to represent its hashcode. The radio map would then need 811×546×13/8≈0.7 MB to represent thefine grid of hash codes for the test area. Generally speaking, this istoo large for small, resource-limited devices.

To alleviate this storage problem and to represent hash codes at areasonable resolution, a coarse grid is created over a fine grid andeach coarse cell is represented as a histogram of rank hash codes fromits underlying fine cells. The size of the coarse cells was varied, buta typical size is 3 km×3 km which covers 16×24=384 fine cells. Eachcoarse cell's histogram is normalized to give an estimate of aprobability distribution of rank hash codes for a cell. Mathematically,this likelihood estimate is P′(r|c_(i)), where r ε [0 . . . n!−1]represents a rank hash code of n radio stations and c_(i), i ε [0 . . .m], represents one of m coarse cells.

In practice, the histograms are sparsely populated because of a largenumber of possible rank hash codes. Due to noise, orientation of adevice, and unsimulated radio propagation effects, rank hash codes in acell is often measured for which a simulated likelihood P′(r|c_(i)) iszero. Thus, a likelihood estimate is smoothed to fill in gaps.Unfortunately, simple smoothing over rank hash codes r is notreasonable, since adjacent hash codes do not necessarily representsimilar rank vectors. Instead, smoothing is accomplished by replacing avalue in each histogram bin by a maximum value over all bins whoseSpearman correlation coefficient with a bin in question is above achosen threshold ρ_(s). In equation form, the (unnormalized) smoothedlikelihood is computed as: $\begin{matrix}{{P_{u}\left( r \middle| c \right)} = {\max\limits_{r^{\prime}:{{S{({r,r^{\prime}})}} \geq \rho_{s}}}\quad{P^{\prime}\left( r^{\prime} \middle| c \right)}}} & (3)\end{matrix}$Here S(r, r′), is a Spearman correlation coefficient between rankvectors represented by hash codes r and r′. P_(u)(r|c_(i)) is thennormalized over r into P(r|c_(i)) to give a smoothed likelihood functionof a rank hash code given a coarse cell. Intuitively, ρ_(s), serves as asmoothing parameter, with higher values giving more smoothing.

Given a measured rank hash code r, the probability of being in a cellc_(k) is given by Bayes rule: $\begin{matrix}{{P\left( c_{k} \middle| r \right)} = \frac{{P\left( r \middle| c_{k} \right)}{P\left( c_{k} \right)}}{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{m}{{P\left( r \middle| c_{i} \right)}{P\left( c_{i} \right)}}}} & (4)\end{matrix}$Given r, this denominator is constant, and no a priori assumptions aremade on which of the m cells a device is in, meaning P(c_(k))=1/m. Thus,a maximum likelihood estimate is selected as a location of the device:$\begin{matrix}{c = {\underset{c_{k}:{k \in {\lbrack{1\ldots\quad m}\rbrack}}}{\arg\quad\max}\quad{P\left( r \middle| c_{k} \right)}}} & (5)\end{matrix}$In actual practice, these results are smoothed by taking a mostfrequently inferred cell over a last K signal strength scans (temporalwindow size). This helps keep a location inference from jumpingunreasonably from place to place, although an excessive value of K cancause the inference to be too “sticky.”

The supra example was performed in the greater Seattle area with a SPOTwatch programmed to measure signal strengths of a reduced set of 7 localFM radio stations. The SPOT watch was transported around the area,logging signal strengths of all 7 stations, taking one 7-station scanper second, resulting in about 3920 readings for each station along withGPS location readings. Meanwhile, a simulated radio map for the 7stations was generated. In FIG. 13, a map 1300 illustrating a test areain accordance with an aspect of the present invention is depicted. Themap 1300 shows a drive path 1302 along with a coarse grid 1304 with cellwidth 7 km that was used for inferring a location. The drive path 1302included both highways and local roads.

The example illustrates that a device's location can be determined withthe present invention down to an accuracy of less than 10 miles (˜16kilometers), utilizing simple histograms built on top of a simulatedradio map. Following is a discussion on effect of correlation thresholdρ_(s), temporal window size K, and grid cell width w, on the accuracy ofan estimated location.

The example shows that a coarse grid cell width w is an importantparameter in terms of affecting accuracy of a location inference.Increasing the coarse cell width has an advantage of having more finegrid cells in a histogram estimate of P′(r|c) and, hence, moreinformation about ranking probability distributions. Also, increasing acell width decreases an overall number of cells in the grid and thusreduces computational overhead. However, as the cell width increases,location resolution naturally decreases. In FIG. 14, a graph 1400illustrating a relation between cell width and median error, forρ_(s)=0.9 and K=5, in accordance with an aspect of the present inventionis shown. From the graph 1400, it can be seen that there are threevalues (1, 7, 11 kilometers) that result in a lower median error, around10 miles (˜16 kilometers). In FIG. 15, graphs 1500, 1502 illustrateprobability density function and cumulative density function errors fora given cell width in accordance with an aspect of the presentinvention. The error probability density function (PDF) graph 1500 andcumulative density function (CDF) graph 1502 correspond to a cell widthw=1 kilometer, ρ_(s)=0.9 and K=5.

The second factor that affects accuracy of an inference algorithm is acorrelation smoothing threshold ρ_(s). As discussed in supra, thecorrelation threshold was introduced to smooth a likelihood estimate.Therefore, increasing ρ_(s) will result in filling more gaps in ahistogram-based estimate of P′(r|c_(i)). However, increasing ρ_(s) abovea certain value will result in too much smoothing, decreasing thedistinguishability of different locations. In FIG. 16, a graph 1600illustrating a relation between correlating threshold and median errorin accordance with an aspect of the present invention is depicted. Thegraph 1600 shows that there is a global minimum of the median error atρ_(s)=0.9, where w=1 kilometer and K=5 (A graph interpolation anomaly isresponsible for a false dip at around ρ_(s)=0.95.).

Another factor that affects accuracy is the temporal window size K.Because radio stations were scanned at 1 Hz, K corresponds to a numberof seconds of data utilized to infer position. Clearly, increasing Kenhances accuracy; however, it also increases memory storage andcomputational power requirements. In FIG. 17, a graph 1700 illustratinga relation between window size and median error in accordance with anaspect of the present invention is illustrated. It is clear from thegraph 1700 that a median error of less than 10 miles (˜16 kilometers) isobtained with a window size K≧10, where w=1 kilometer and ρ_(s)=0.9.

The present invention provide a means for inferring a location of adevice based on ambient signal strengths such as FM radio signalstrengths and the like. Its advantages include a wide coverage of FMradio, spanning indoor and outdoor locations, and the readiness of atarget device such as a SPOT device and the like for measuring radiosignal strengths, providing an accuracy of several miles. The presentinvention is robust to measurement differences between devices, relyingon inferences based on rankings of ambient signals rather than on theirabsolute signal strengths. No manual survey of signal strength as afunction of location is necessary when employing simulated signalstrengths. By utilizing smoothed histograms of rank hash codes, adevice's location can be inferred down to an accuracy of less than 10miles (˜16 kilometers). The extremely low resource utilizing employed bythe present invention allows it to provide functionality to resourcelimited devices such as small, wearable devices.

In yet another instance of the present invention, a method is employedto identify which radio station histograms to transmit to a device,given a limited storage capacity of certain devices. In still yetanother instance of the present invention, classification accuracy canbe boosted by smoothing position inferences over time, exploitingknowledge about location adjacencies, and adhering to constraints abouthow fast devices are expected to move between locations. Still yetanother instance of the present invention employs decision-theoreticapproaches to minimizing misdiagnosis given probability distributionsover locations. Once again, still yet another instance of the presentinvention employs other fundamental representations that captureproperties of relative signal strength beyond rank orderings, includingmethods that capture strength ratios and relationships among groups ofsignal emitters clustered by strengths.

In view of the exemplary systems shown and described above,methodologies that may be implemented in accordance with the presentinvention will be better appreciated with reference to the flow chartsof FIGS. 18-23. While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, themethodologies are shown and described as a series of blocks, it is to beunderstood and appreciated that the present invention is not limited bythe order of the blocks, as some blocks may, in accordance with thepresent invention, occur in different orders and/or concurrently withother blocks from that shown and described herein. Moreover, not allillustrated blocks may be required to implement the methodologies inaccordance with the present invention.

The invention may be described in the general context ofcomputer-executable instructions, such as program modules, executed byone or more components. Generally, program modules include routines,programs, objects, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasksor implement particular abstract data types. Typically, thefunctionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed asdesired in various instances of the present invention.

Turning to FIG. 18, a flow diagram of a method 1800 of locating a devicein accordance with an aspect of the present invention is depicted. Themethod 1800 starts 1802 by providing signal strength indicators 1804.The indicators are generally representations of signals such as ambientsignals and the like from signal sources such as towers, buildingantennae, and mobile units (including terrain and aeronautical units andthe like) and the like. The signals can include, but are not limited to,frequency modulated signals, amplitude modulated signals, ultrahigh-frequency signals, very high-frequency signals, and the like andeven more directional signals such as upper microwave signals and thelike. The present invention can also be adapted to operate with higherfrequency-receiving devices capable of indicating signal strengths ofinfrared, x-ray, and cosmic ray and the like. Similarly, lower frequencyreceiving devices which provide reception for ultra-sonics, sonics, andinfra-sonics and the like are operable with the present invention aswell. The present invention can also account for time-varying signalsand signals emitted from mobile platforms. Terrain-sensitive propagationmodels can also be utilized to account for variations in signals due toterrain obstructions. Likewise, other propagation models can be utilizedto account for such things as reflections from large structures such asbuildings, monuments, and man-made objects and the like. By utilizingvelocity prediction models, the present invention can also be utilizedto determine the velocity of a device as well as its location.

The signal strength indicators are not limited to only those indicatorsthat provide accurate strengths in an absolute in scale. The presentinvention can accept signal strength indicators without any unitsassociated with the indicators. Once the signal strength indicators areprovided, a location is determined based upon the provided signalstrength indicators 1806, ending the flow 1808. The determination isgenerally based upon an algorithm that allows a distribution to beleveraged to provide a location through inferencing. In one aspect ofthe present invention, a Bayesian classification algorithm is utilizedthat does not rely upon absolute signal strengths. Instead, a ranking ofsignal strengths is employed to facilitate in ensuring that variationssuch as signal detection errors, calibration errors, and unknown signalstrength indicator sources and the like do not impact the locationdetermination.

In FIG. 19, another flow diagram of a method 1900 of locating a devicein accordance with an aspect of the present invention is shown. Themethod 1900 starts 1902 by obtaining ambient signals such as, forexample, radio frequency signals from such sources, for example, ascommercial FM radio towers and/or stations 1904. A list of the radiofrequencies is then scanned 1906 and measured signal strength vectorsare determined 1908. The relative strengths are then sorted and a rankvector is computed for the frequencies 1910. Hash codes are thengenerated based on permutations of the signal strengths 1912. Hash codesare then obtained from each desired location to train a location system1914. Normalized histograms are then constructed from the hash codes1916. A probability is then computed via, for example, Bayes rule 1918.A classifier, such as, for example, a Bayesian classifier, is thenutilized to identify a maximum a posteriori probability, indicating thata device is most likely in that particular location 1920, ending theflow 1922.

Referring to FIG. 20, a flow diagram of a method 2000 of training alocating device in accordance with an aspect of the present invention isillustrated. The method 2000 starts 2002 by positioning a device thatreceives ambient signals in a particular location 2004. Ambient signals,such as radio frequency signals and the like, are each scanned multipletimes to obtain their signal strengths 2006. Rank information, such asrank hash codes and the like, is then computed for each scan 2008. Anormalized histogram of rank information, such as the rank hash codes,is generated for the particular location and stored 2010. Adetermination is then made as to whether another location is desired toobtain data from 2012. If yes, the device is transported to anotherlocation 2004 and the method 2000 starts again. If no more locations aredesired, the flow ends 2014.

In FIG. 21, a flow diagram of a method 2100 of smoothing histogramsutilized for locating a device in accordance with an aspect of thepresent invention is shown. The method 2100 starts 2102 by computingcoarse grid cell histograms based on underlying fine grid cells 2104. Byutilizing a coarse grid instead of a fine grid provided by simulationsoftware such as ComStudy and the like, a reasonable resolution isobtained without causing heavy storage and processing burdens on anunderlying device. The coarse grid cell histograms are then normalized2106. This provides an estimate of a probability distribution of rankhash codes for a cell. A correlation threshold value is then selected2108. This permits control of smoothing of sparsely populatedhistograms, with higher values giving more smoothing. Histogram binswith Spearman correlation coefficients above the correlation thresholdvalue are then determined 2110. A maximum value over all histogram binsthat are above the correlation threshold value is calculated 2112. Eachhistogram bin above the correlation threshold value has its valuereplaced by the maximum value 2114, ending the flow 2116. In equationform, the smoothed likelihood is computed as: $\begin{matrix}{{P_{u}\left( r \middle| c \right)} = {\max\limits_{r^{\prime}:{{S{({r,r^{\prime}})}} \geq \rho_{s}}}\quad{P^{\prime}\left( r^{\prime} \middle| c \right)}}} & (3)\end{matrix}$where S(r, r′) is a Spearman correlation coefficient between rankvectors represented by hash codes r and r′. P_(u)(r|c_(i)) is thennormalized over r into P(r|c_(i)) to give a smoothed likelihood functionof a rank hash code given a coarse cell.

Referring to FIG. 22, a flow diagram of a method 2200 of smoothinglocation inferences in accordance with an aspect of the presentinvention is depicted. The method 2200 starts 2202 by obtaining ahistory of signal strength scans 2204. A location inference smoothingvalue “K” (temporal window size) is then selected 2206. A mostfrequently inferred location over the last “K” signal strength scans isthen determined 2208, ending the flow 2210. The most frequently inferredlocation becomes the location utilized for an underlying device. This isfrequently done to prevent the device from “jumping” from location tolocation due to orientation movement of the device and otherenvironmental influences. By smoothing the inferenced location, asubstantially steady value is shown by the device.

Moving on to FIG. 23, a flow diagram of a method 2300 of optimizingambient signal sets for utilization in locating a device in accordancewith an aspect of the present invention is shown. The method 2300 starts2302 by obtaining a set of ambient signals and their respective signalstrengths 2304. A Pearson's correlation coefficient is then calculatedbetween all pairs of signal sources in the set 2306. In one instance ofthe present invention, pairing of signal sources is based upon spatiallycorresponding points on a simulated signal strength map and the like.Pearson's correlation coefficient represents a standard linearcorrelation coefficient and not a rank correlation. A correlationthreshold value is then selected 2308. A typical value for thiscorrelation threshold in one instance of the present invention isapproximately 0.95. Signal sources that correlate greater than theselected correlation threshold value are grouped together 2310. A signalwith the highest average signal strength of each group is then selectedto represent that group 2312, ending the flow 2314. This method 2300reduces the number of rank vectors to be utilized in locating a deviceby several orders of magnitude. It 2300 is also particularly useful whenambient signals originate from a single source, eliminating sourceredundancy.

Instances of the present invention can include inclusion of a means foraccepting input and/or feedback from users either on a programmingdevice and/or an endpoint device itself. Such input can include regionsthat a user wishes to exclude from inference, e.g., “only consider thisparticular subset of areas within this greater city region; I will notbe traveling in other areas.” Such constraints can enhance the accuracyof the inferences of a system by narrowing the scope of locations. Inanother instance of the present invention, users can input feedbackabout the accuracy of a system, e.g., “this is incorrect; this iscorrect,” e.g., via simple button pushes. Such feedback can be used toenhance the accuracy of future inferences.

In order to provide additional context for implementing various aspectsof the present invention, FIG. 24 and the following discussion isintended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable computingenvironment 2400 in which the various aspects of the present inventionmay be implemented. While the invention has been described above in thegeneral context of computer-executable instructions of a computerprogram that runs on a local computer and/or remote computer, thoseskilled in the art will recognize that the invention also may beimplemented in combination with other program modules. Generally,program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures,etc., that perform particular tasks and/or implement particular abstractdata types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that theinventive methods may be practiced with other computer systemconfigurations, including single-processor or multi-processor computersystems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, as well as personalcomputers, hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based and/orprogrammable consumer electronics, and the like, each of which mayoperatively communicate with one or more associated devices. Theillustrated aspects of the invention may also be practiced indistributed computing environments where certain tasks are performed byremote processing devices that are linked through a communicationsnetwork. However, some, if not all, aspects of the invention may bepracticed on stand-alone computers. In a distributed computingenvironment, program modules may be located in local and/or remotememory storage devices.

As used in this application, the term “component” is intended to referto a computer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardwareand software, software, or software in execution. For example, acomponent may be, but is not limited to, a process running on aprocessor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution,a program, and a computer. By way of illustration, an applicationrunning on a server and/or the server can be a component. In addition, acomponent may include one or more subcomponents.

With reference to FIG. 24, an exemplary system environment 2400 forimplementing the various aspects of the invention includes aconventional computer 2402, including a processing unit 2404, a systemmemory 2406, and a system bus 2408 that couples various systemcomponents, including the system memory, to the processing unit 2404.The processing unit 2404 may be any commercially available orproprietary processor. In addition, the processing unit may beimplemented as multi-processor formed of more than one processor, suchas may be connected in parallel.

The system bus 2408 may be any of several types of bus structureincluding a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and alocal bus using any of a variety of conventional bus architectures suchas PCI, VESA, Microchannel, ISA, and EISA, to name a few. The systemmemory 2406 includes read only memory (ROM) 2410 and random accessmemory (RAM) 2412. A basic input/output system (BIOS) 2414, containingthe basic routines that help to transfer information between elementswithin the computer 2402, such as during start-up, is stored in ROM2410.

The computer 2402 also may include, for example, a hard disk drive 2416,a magnetic disk drive 2418, e.g., to read from or write to a removabledisk 2420, and an optical disk drive 2422, e.g., for reading from orwriting to a CD-ROM disk 2424 or other optical media. The hard diskdrive 2416, magnetic disk drive 2418, and optical disk drive 2422 areconnected to the system bus 2408 by a hard disk drive interface 2426, amagnetic disk drive interface 2428, and an optical drive interface 2430,respectively. The drives 2416-2422 and their associatedcomputer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage of data, datastructures, computer-executable instructions, etc. for the computer2402. Although the description of computer-readable media above refersto a hard disk, a removable magnetic disk and a CD, it should beappreciated by those skilled in the art that other types of media whichare readable by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memorycards, digital video disks, Bernoulli cartridges, and the like, can alsobe used in the exemplary operating environment 2400, and further thatany such media may contain computer-executable instructions forperforming the methods of the present invention.

A number of program modules may be stored in the drives 2416-2422 andRAM 2412, including an operating system 2432, one or more applicationprograms 2434, other program modules 2436, and program data 2438. Theoperating system 2432 may be any suitable operating system orcombination of operating systems. By way of example, the applicationprograms 2434 and program modules 2436 can include inferring a locationof a device in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

A user can enter commands and information into the computer 2402 throughone or more user input devices, such as a keyboard 2440 and a pointingdevice (e.g., a mouse 2442). Other input devices (not shown) may includea microphone, a joystick, a game pad, a satellite dish, wireless remote,a scanner, or the like. These and other input devices are oftenconnected to the processing unit 2404 through a serial port interface2444 that is coupled to the system bus 2408, but may be connected byother interfaces, such as a parallel port, a game port or a universalserial bus (USB). A monitor 2446 or other type of display device is alsoconnected to the system bus 2408 via an interface, such as a videoadapter 2448. In addition to the monitor 2446, the computer 2402 mayinclude other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers,printers, etc.

It is to be appreciated that the computer 2402 can operate in anetworked environment using logical connections to one or more remotecomputers 2460. The remote computer 2460 may be a workstation, a servercomputer, a router, a peer device or other common network node, andtypically includes many or all of the elements described relative to thecomputer 2402, although, for purposes of brevity, only a memory storagedevice 2462 is illustrated in FIG. 24. The logical connections depictedin FIG. 24 can include a local area network (LAN) 2464 and a wide areanetwork (WAN) 2466. Such networking environments are commonplace inoffices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and the Internet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, for example, the computer2402 is connected to the local network 2464 through a network interfaceor adapter 2468. When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer2402 typically includes a modem (e.g., telephone, DSL, cable, etc.)2470, or is connected to a communications server on the LAN, or hasother means for establishing communications over the WAN 2466, such asthe Internet. The modem 2470, which can be internal or external relativeto the computer 2402, is connected to the system bus 2408 via the serialport interface 2444. In a networked environment, program modules(including application programs 2434) and/or program data 2438 can bestored in the remote memory storage device 2462. It will be appreciatedthat the network connections shown are exemplary, and other means (e.g.,wired or wireless) of establishing a communications link between thecomputers 2402 and 2460 can be used when carrying out an aspect of thepresent invention.

In accordance with the practices of persons skilled in the art ofcomputer programming, the present invention has been described withreference to acts and symbolic representations of operations that areperformed by a computer, such as the computer 2402 or remote computer2460, unless otherwise indicated. Such acts and operations are sometimesreferred to as being computer-executed. It will be appreciated that theacts and symbolically represented operations include the manipulation bythe processing unit 2404 of electrical signals representing data bitswhich causes a resulting transformation or reduction of the electricalsignal representation, and the maintenance of data bits at memorylocations in the memory system (including the system memory 2406, harddrive 2416, floppy disks 2420, CD-ROM 2424, and remote memory 2462) tothereby reconfigure or otherwise alter the computer system's operation,as well as other processing of signals. The memory locations where suchdata bits are maintained are physical locations that have particularelectrical, magnetic, or optical properties corresponding to the databits.

FIG. 25 is another block diagram of a sample computing environment 2500with which the present invention can interact. The system 2500 furtherillustrates a system that includes one or more client(s) 2502. Theclient(s) 2502 can be hardware and/or software (e.g., threads,processes, computing devices). The system 2500 also includes one or moreserver(s) 2504. The server(s) 2504 can also be hardware and/or software(e.g., threads, processes, computing devices). The server(s) 2504 canhouse threads to perform transformations by employing the presentinvention, for example. One possible communication between a client 2502and a server 2504 may be in the form of a data packet adapted to betransmitted between two or more computer processes. The system 2500includes a communication framework 2508 that can be employed tofacilitate communications between the client(s) 2502 and the server(s)2504. The client(s) 2502 are operably connected to one or more clientdata store(s) 2510 that can be employed to store information local tothe client(s) 2502. Similarly, the server(s) 2504 are operably connectedto one or more server data store(s) 2506 that can be employed to storeinformation local to the server(s) 2504.

In one instance of the present invention, a data packet transmittedbetween two or more computer components that facilitate locating adevice, the data packet is comprised of, at least in part, informationrelating to a locating system that determines, based on at least oneambient frequency signal indicator, an approximation of a location of adevice.

In another instance of the present invention, a computer readable mediumstoring computer executable components of a system for facilitatinglocating a device is comprised of, at least in part, a locating systemthat determines, based on at least one ambient frequency signalindicator, an approximation of a location of a device.

In yet another instance of the present invention, a location isdetermined based upon signal strength indicators based upon mobileand/or stationary signal emitters. Data transmitted from mobile units isutilized to provide stabilization for determining a location.

In still yet another instance of the present invention, radiationpatterns of signal emitters are utilized in the determination of alocation.

It is to be appreciated that the systems and/or methods of the presentinvention can be utilized in locating systems facilitating computercomponents and non-computer related components alike. Further, thoseskilled in the art will recognize that the systems and/or methods of thepresent invention are employable in a vast array of electronic relatedtechnologies, including, but not limited to, computers, servers and/orhandheld electronic devices, affixable electronic devices (e.g.,magnetic attachment, hook and loop attachment, hook attachment, adhesiveattachment, etc.), wearable electronic devices (e.g., watches, eyeglasses, clothing items, hearing aids, necklaces, bracelets, belts,ankle bracelets, tie tacks, rings, etc.), and the like.

What has been described above includes examples of the presentinvention. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivablecombination of components or methodologies for purposes of describingthe present invention, but one of ordinary skill in the art mayrecognize that many further combinations and permutations of the presentinvention are possible. Accordingly, the present invention is intendedto embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fallwithin the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to theextent that the term “includes” is used in either the detaileddescription or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in amanner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpretedwhen employed as a transitional word in a claim.

1. A system that utilizes approximately determined locations of adevice, comprising: a component that receives at least one ambientsignal; an analysis component that infers at least one approximatelocation of a device based, in part, on relative signal strengths of atleast a subset of the ambient signals; and a location associatedcomponent that utilizes the approximate location of the device toprovide functionality.
 2. The system of claim 1, the approximatelocation of the device utilized to provide memory management for storageof geocentric related data.
 3. The system of claim 1, the approximatelocation of the device facilitating at least one entity utilizing, atleast in part, proximity data.
 4. The system of claim 3, the entitycomprising at least one selected from the group consisting of at leastone software application and at least one computing device.
 5. Thesystem of claim 4, the proximity data utilized to establish at least oneselected from the group consisting of a time zone for utilization by thecomputing device, a country location for utilization by the computingdevice, and a language for utilization by the computing device.
 6. Thesystem of claim 1, the inferred approximate location facilitating, atleast in part, at least one navigation system.
 7. The system of claim 6,the navigation system comprising a terrain vehicle navigation system. 8.The system of claim 1, the inferred approximate location facilitating,at least in part, in emergency-based devices for providing informationduring a crisis.
 9. The system of claim 8, the emergency-based devicesproviding at least one selected from the group consisting of informationfor radio frequency dissemination of a device's location, stolen itemrecovery assistance, lost person location assistance, emergency maps forlocating water sources, local building structural drawings, medicalservice locations, utility locations, and weather reports.
 10. Thesystem of claim 1, the inferred approximate location facilitating indistribution of location-specific information.
 11. The system of claim10, the location-specific information comprising at least one selectedfrom the group consisting of time-sensitive information, advertisingrelated information, weather related information, emergency relatedinformation, and proximity information of at least one entity.
 12. Thesystem of claim 11, the entity comprising a predetermined person. 13.The system of claim 11, the proximity information utilized to promote atleast one selected from the group consisting of clustering of entitiesand disassociate entities.
 14. The system of claim 1, the inferredapproximate location utilized to facilitate, at least in part, inlocating computing devices.
 15. The system of claim 1, the inferredapproximate location utilized for logging historical locations of adevice.
 16. The system of claim 1, the inferred approximate locationfacilitates grouping at least one item based on location of an event.17. The system of claim 16, the event occurring indoors.
 18. The systemof claim 16, the event comprising capturing an image.
 19. The system ofclaim 18, the image comprising at least one selected from the groupconsisting of a motionless image and a motion image.
 20. The system ofclaim 19, the image comprising a digital image.
 21. A method forutilizing an approximately determined location, comprising: receiving aplurality of ambient signal strengths; determining an approximatelocation of a device based, in part, upon relative signal strengths ofat least a subset of the ambient signal strengths; and employing theapproximate location of the device to facilitate in associatingtime-sensitive information related to at least one location.
 22. Themethod of claim 21, the time-sensitive information comprising at leastone selected from the group consisting of time-sensitive advertising andtime-sensitive alerts.
 23. The method of claim 22, the time-sensitiveadvertising comprising, at least in part, a redemption code for anoffer.
 24. The method of claim 22, the time-sensitive alerts comprising,at least in part, transmission of a displayable numeric code forfacilitating redemption of an offer.
 25. A geocentric service employingthe system of claim 1 to provide information based on an approximatelocation of a device.
 26. A package delivery service employing thesystem of claim 1 to provide information based on an approximatelocation of a device.
 27. A tracking system employing the system ofclaim 1 to provide information based on an approximate location of adevice.
 28. The tracking system of claim 27, the tracking systemcomprising at least one selected from the group consisting of anequipment tracking system, a person tracking system, an animal trackingsystem, and a vehicle tracking system.